#US Census

[todaysdocument]

Dividing Up the Town, 1950

Record Group 29: Records of the Bureau of the CensusSeries: General Records Relating to the Seventeenth Decennial CensusFile Unit: [Folder 0647] - Public Relations - Photographs - Marking the Enumeration Districts

This photograph, which was taken from an elevated position, shows District Supervisor Charles A. Gering standing by a square table upon which rests the "Map of the City of Elizabeth, New Jersey, 1946." There is a large wooden crate behind him with the word "CENSUS" painted on it on one end. Two 1950 Census enumerator portfolios are arranged on a table to Mr. Gering's right.

[deathtoskinnyjeans]

so apparently, the US census is about to make 40% of disabled people disappear in its data.

they gonna change the disability-related questions, and then only count the two most negative answers as a disability. and also the new version will do even worse than the old version at counting disabled ppl who are chronically and/or mentally ill. and just in time for long covid to create more of exactly those kinds of disabled ppl [/tinfoil hat]

article about the change they're trying to make:

https://nationalpartnership.org/new-census-proposal-would-reduce-disabled-women-girls-counted-nearly-10-million/?fbclid=IwAR09pGjYoMwdik6mo-uzEOf3kD7xe2oLIEU7wlm7wWlV9ykbgq02_fljJr8

on how to leave a public comment to try to make that not happen:

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Lauren Egan at The Bulwark:

SEC Nation

When Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin arrived in Florida’s 6th Congressional District over the weekend to campaign for Tuesday’s special House election, his expectations were in check. Sure, Josh Weil—the Democratic candidate running for the seat that opened up when Rep. Mike Waltz left Congress to be President Trump’s national security advisor—has raised a truly impressive amount of money. And yes, Democratic voters appear to be looking for an outlet for their angst. But the Northeast Florida district hasn’t sent a Democratic representative to Congress in over forty years, and it supported Donald Trump by more than 30 points in November. Party officials said that Martin’s visit wasn’t just about the special election. Rather, it was a recognition that as more Americans move to the South, the party has to step up its game in the region. “It’s not by accident that I’m here in Florida right now actually canvassing in the Florida 6 election, or that I’ve been in Houston and Georgia already,” Martin said in an interview with The Bulwark before heading out to knock on doors. “There’s going to be a complete seismic shift as it relates to congressional power. . . . We cannot be caught flat-footed as a party. We have to be prepared to meet that moment.”

Thanks to a decades-long flood of cross-country migration from states like California and New York to states like Texas and Florida, the South has emerged as an economic, political, and cultural powerhouse. Tech companies are relocating to Austin; movies are increasingly being produced in Atlanta; and more students from the Northeast are attending SEC schools—and then staying in the South after graduating—than ever before. The region accounted for more than two-thirds of all job growth across the United States since early 2020, and it now contributes more to the national GDP than the Northeast does. All of that means that the South is on track to make historic gains in the 2030 census. Florida and Texas are projected to gain four or more congressional seats, while North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee could each gain a seat. Meanwhile, reliably blue states like California could lose as many as five; New York might lose three. Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin could also see declines. All told, nearly four in ten Americans could hail from the South by the next census, according to a recent Brennan Center analysis. That not only means the path to a House majority runs through the South—it also means the party’s reliance on the “Blue Wall” will no longer be viable in future presidential elections. (The number of Electoral College votes a state gets is determined by how many congressional districts it has.) [...] Some state officials are skeptical that the resources will flow. Local leaders in the South have complained for years that the donor class and the DNC have not invested enough in state parties. They’ve watched national leaders talk a big game about flipping Texas or making Georgia reliably blue without putting in the work to reach those goals, such as by building out a robust on-the-ground staff that knows the region’s political landscape. “What makes me sad is that it does not matter how many times we scream it, we aren’t being heard by the people who control our party,” said Mondale Robinson, founder of the Black Male Voter Project and mayor of Enfield, a rural town in eastern North Carolina. “Building a new Blue Wall and pathway to 270 that includes Southern states—that’s going to require work in counties that we’ve never seen Democratic candidates go to.” [...] Democrats in the South argue that despite the region’s conservative tilt, the challenge confronting their party isn’t insurmountable. The population boom, they note, is largely the result of black, Latino, and Asian people moving to the region—demographics that the party has historically done well with, although they lost some ground to Donald Trump in the last election.

With more and more people relocating to the South, the 2030 US Census projections reveal that Southern states will be the beneficiaries, while the Midwest and the Northeast will lose out, thus hampering the Democratic Party’s chances at future election success (at least going by their current coalition) unless changes are made.

[maspers]

I want to see a story where they find a tunnel to hell or the underworld or something in Wyoming and a year ending with 0 comes around and some poor schmuck needs to go down there and collect data for the US Census.

[lechusza]

Send in your app

Job opening. “The director of the Census Bureau announced this week he is resigning, clearing the way for President Donald Trump to appoint an ally to lead the agency that plays a crucial role in American politics,” Politico reports. #uscensus #government

[sonofswift]

Finding Frances Collins

After I was able to focus on the proper surname of the wife of Noah Price, I tried to track down her parents. The 1850 Census showed Mary Collins 17, living with Francis Collins (49), James C. Collins (25), & Elizabeth Collins (22). It's an easy assumption that Francis is her mother, with a simple misspelling.

Tracking down from there, I found her in the 1840 Census also as the head of family. As you can see, the 1840 and previous censuses leave a lot to be desired.

In the 1860 Census, the kids have moved out, but instead she moved in with Elizabeth, now going by Olive and married to John Stroop, misspelled here as Strop.

She continues to live with Elizabeth's family in 1870.

The last census record I can track her to is the 1880 Census, where she's living with the now widowed Elizabeth, and Frances listed by the nickname Fannie.

I found Elizabeth's death certificate, which includes her father's name and Frances's maiden name, Gibson.

Taking a step back, I found the online record of marriage between Levi Collins and Frances Gibson. I then tracked down Levi and family in the 1830 Census.

So now I need to track down Gibson's in the 1820 Census. So far, unsuccessfully.

Now I know, Frances Collins was born around 1801 in Pennsylvania. Checking Pennsylvania counties bordering the West Virginia panhandle (Ohio County, VA prior to 1863), I found the Rev. William Gibson in Canonsburg, Washington Co., PA. He was a Presbyterian minister, born in Co. Down, Ireland, with a full biography available online. Sadly, he is not Frances's father. Quick research into the Reverand finds four daughters, none named Frances.

Once again, bedeviled by the absence of the 1890 Census. Frances died sometime after 1880, before 1900. So far there's no Find A Grave entry, but my search will go on.

[cantsayidont]

Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; 2024 American Community Survey (ACS) Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Test

A Notice by the Census Bureau on 04/29/2024

Explanation, per their email announcement:

The U.S. Census Bureau published a Federal Register notice asking for public comment on a proposed test of sexual orientation and gender identity questions on the American Community Survey (ACS). The test would begin this summer and continue into next year. The ACS is an ongoing survey that collects detailed housing and socioeconomic data. It allows the Census Bureau to provide timely and relevant housing and socioeconomic statistics, even for low levels of geography. As part of the process for adding new questions to the ACS, the Census Bureau tests potential questions to evaluate the quality of the data collected. The Census Bureau proposes testing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity to meet the needs of other federal agencies that have expressed interest in or have identified legal uses for the information, such as enforcing civil rights and equal employment measures.

You can submit comments as follows:

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of this notice on the following website www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under 30-day Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function and entering either the title of the collection or the OMB Control Number 0607-0936.

The RegInfo.gov website is arcane, so here is the direct link:

[calicojack1718]

Comment on This: Trump's Numbers in South Carolina are MEANINGLESS

Everybody is losing their minds over Election 2024. Trump won SC by DOUBLE DIGITS! He's UNSTOPPABLE! If he's convicted he'll lose 30% of his voters. The vote in SC was meaningless. Convince me I'm wrong.

We’re seeing the usual horserace bullshit coverage of Trump’s vIcToRy in South Carolina: He won by double digits! And, we’re seeing some push back from the more liberal and thoughtful press: 40% of SC Republicans voted against Trump! Then, the the usual scrum of 30% of SC Republican voters say they won’t vote for a convicted Trump. Seriously? Let’s all take a deep breath, and take a look at some…

[lazyscience]

The main committee for coming up with these proposals did not add representatives from the Administration for Community Living — an agency that includes the federal government's main disability research organization, the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research — and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services until this year, the bureau confirmed to NPR in an email statement. Mont, the former chair of the Washington Group's analytical working group, adds there was not a lot of involvement of U.S. organizations for people with disabilities in developing the proposed questions. "Have people with disabilities been excluded from the process? Absolutely not," Mont says. "Have people with disabilities from the U.S. advocacy community not been involved until the last minute here? In that case, I think that's probably a fair thing to say."

they didn't ask their own people already working on this question, let alone the population they will actually be affecting. They are asking the question to get a specific answer policymakers wanted, which is to spend less money.

Do I think that data with greater detail is something worth collecting? Yes. Do I think doing it this way is in good faith? No. I do not. Keep your eyes open for the second comment period, folks. This some austerity bullshit and we're not having it. Not after the government caved on forcing us back to work. They can pay for that stupid-ass decision.

A proposed change to the Census Bureau's disability questions on the annual American Community Survey could skew disability stats, making it harder to ensure that disabled people have access to housing, health care, legal protections, and more. https://www.opb.org/article/2023/12/19/a-controversial-census-bureau-proposal-could-shrink-the-u-s-disability-rate-by-40/

[starscream-is-my-wife]

Probably not a good thing that your followers are more there for your gun then for you, at least the weapon knows his place though (SIC Megatron AU)

[notasapleasure]

Well we knew that epilogue was coming. Just gonna pretend it wasn't there tbh. Not least as I have complaints about sending her back to Mina Rau.

Didn't even get a brasso memorial smh

[enigmaticpink]

Three people lived in my family's home during the 1930s, at least during the time when the census was taken. I know this because I went through the annoyingly tedious task of searching census records by city districts until I found my address. Why? Bored and curious, plus no one knows anything about who owned this house beyond the person my grandpa's aunt bought it from in the 60s. Well, anyways, I found the names of the family who lived here nearly a hundred years ago but when I tried searching up any other records of them, absolutely nothing. No birth records, marriage records, deaths. It's like the only proof I can find they even existed was the census records from this one particular decade.

Is this a very stupid waste of time? Absolutely, but also my curiosity has doubled.

[bizarrebazaar13]

diversity win! the capitalist bat keeping uncomfortably close tabs on your love life respects your pronouns!

[th3-c0ll3ct3r]

Preaching to all people who think some content creator are messaging minor for no reason

aka Twitter/tumblr cross over users.

AhEm... YOUR INTERNET PROVIDER(S) CAN SEE THE THINGS YOU DO WITH YOUR INTERNET AND THAT INCLUDES MESSAGING

(and discord... because you're using the internet to get on there... As hotspots too)

This means if a content creator is messaging a minor in an inappropriate or bullying way (in the UK at least) they would come knocking at you door asking for all your personal information, identification, means of contact and be asking questions.

Has that content creator been arrest yet? Nope.

Is cyber bullying/harassment a crime in the UK?

Yes! Under the laws:

Protection from Harassment Act 1997

Malicious Communications Act 1988

Defamation Act 2017

And can even prevent you from getting jobs in the future of your employment wants to look at your social media! Which is legal! (as in they want to make sure you're not a weirdo or anything! They can't deny you a job based on political stuff or opinions on other companies!)

Is messaging a minor inappropriately a crime?

FUCK YES‼️‼️

Sooooooo keep this in mind when you post things online, that the government CAN BE INFORMED OF YOUR ACTIONS ON THE INTERNET BY YOUR INTERNET PROVIDER IF YOU DO SOMETHING SUSPICIOUS OR THAT BREAKS THE LAW